Questions for Jesse Jackson today

September 2nd, 2009 at 08:36am Linda Grist Cunningham

The Rev. Jesse Jackson comes back to Rockford today to do five guest appearances, one of which is this afternoon with the Register Star’s Editorial Board. There are ten of us on the Editorial Board. We include journalists, the general manager, the publisher and community members.

We cover the political spectrum from left to right, though most of us are in the middle. We do one-person-one-vote on our positions and the majority opinion is published. I don’t always agree with the board’s position, but you won’t know that because our bylaws state that we do not disagree in public.

Several times a month, guests meet with the board: Politicians in search of support, organizations wanting endorsement or funding, newsmakers who help us understand what’s going on. We are a tough bunch and we make no apologies for the hard, pointed, sometimes confrontational questions we pose. We ask the questions no one else will.

So today these are among the questions we’ll ask Jackson: Why in the world would you do that theatrical reenactment when you don’t know the facts? What will you do to ensure that Rockford’s own leaders can bring the community together? Afterall, when you take the show home, we’re still here. This was the board’s editorial this morning.

The challenge, however, is that Jackson likes the stage. Based on what other editorial boards have encountered, to get a question in, we’re likely to have to be rude. To keep him on point, we’ll have to be even more insistant. We’ll be courteous, but we won’t back down. Rockford deserves his answers not just his inspiring rhetoric.

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